It’s a storm in the UK after some members of the Conservative Party were accused of betting on when voters would be called to the polls.
Alone two weeks before the general elections and amid poor poll results for the Conservative Party, which is 20 points behind its main opposition party, the Labor Party, a scandal breaks out over alleged bets on when new elections would be called in the United Kingdom.
The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunakhas said that anyone involved in using inside information to bet on the national election, now set for July 4, should be expelled from his Conservative Party.
Speaking to the BBC’s Question Time programme, Sunak said he was “incredibly angry” to hear accusations that conservative politicians had bet on the elections and that they “would have to face the full force of the law” if they were found to have broken the law.
On 22 May, Sunak announced that parliamentary elections would be held on 4 July. The date was a closely guarded secret and many, even within Sunak’s Conservative Party, They were taken by surprisegiven that the vote was expected in the fall.
Who are the conservatives involved in the betting scandal?
British media reported Thursday that Conservative candidate Laura Saunders, who is married to Conservative Party campaign manager Tony Lee, is being investigated by the commission for alleged gambling-related offences.
The Conservative Party said it had been contacted by the UK Gambling Commission regarding a “small number of individuals” in connection with the investigation. The party declined to immediately comment on the new accusations pending the commission’s investigation. But in a statement he said Lee was absent from the game on Wednesday.
The growing scandal came after it was reported on Wednesday that one of Sunak’s police guards arrested for alleged gambling about the date of elections held before they were announced. The officer was arrested on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan Police said.
Last week, the Sunak adviser Craig Williamswho is running for re-election to Parliament, admitted he was being investigated by the Gambling Commission for placing a £100 bet in the July elections before the date was announced.
